Do...

Do I have another new favourite Eleventh Doctor story right after saying Curiosity Shop was it?

Eleven does often get written as a surprisingly manipulative, even cruel, incarnation of the doctor, and while others that are done the same (e.g. Seven, Twelve) often get called out for it, Eleven never really seems to face any repercussions.

Seeing a companion call him out on his BS then, especially when they've been treated as poorly as Valarie was in Curiosity Shop, is just so satisfying.

Even more than that though, this story is written perfectly for this. The threat being Empathetic Weather, created by the Time Lords in The Time War is just brilliant. Pathetic fallacy is always a great tool in a storyteller's arsenal, but taking that as a concept and weaponising it? Especially in a story like this where emotions are just so high, it's incredible.

Then there's the sideplot with the robots, they really do just feel so real and you do just get so attached to them. If the robots didn't work, the story could fall apart, but they just do work. I love how they also somewhat mirror Eleven and Valarie, going around and trying to help people even if it feels pointless, and then being voiced by Dudman and Ingar, while presumably done for budgetary reasons, also just adds so much.

Also goddamnit, McMullin steals a twist I wanted to use if/when I ever get round to writing Doctor Who stories/fanfic. Oh well, the three life signs being the three heartbeats of Valarie and The Doctor is done really well, I guess I can forgive it here.

But yeah, all in all, 11DCs just keep being hits.